Dakota's Brett Benning hits winning 3-on-3 shot in holiday play

STOCKTON — One of the big attractions of the 3-on-3 tournament at Stockton’s Fourth of July celebration is for local basketball players to take their shot at former Freeport star Willie Veasley.

STOCKTON — One of the big attractions of the 3-on-3 tournament at Stockton’s Fourth of July celebration is for local basketball players to take their shot at former Freeport star Willie Veasley, who started for the Butler team that came within three points of winning the 2010 NCAA title.

Well, Veasley’s team was stunned in the first round Thursday, but still recovered to win the men’s division of the ninth-annual double-elimination tournament.

A local all-star team of Stockton’s Tre Timpe, Dakota’s Brett Benning and East Dubuque’s Jonah Puls also overcame a loss to win the high school boys division. They went undefeated through the winner’s bracket, then lost to a Forreston team that had to beat them twice after losing earlier.

In the second title game, Timpe, Benning and Puls won 15-13 with Benning, a second-team Class 1A All-Stater, hitting a 3-pointer (worth two points in 3-on-3 tourneys) with 15 seconds left in the 20-minute game for the win.

“Our team really relied on 3s and we were hot,” Timpe said. “It’s definitely nice to have Brett to knock down those shots. He’s 6-foot-6 with big-time wing span. He’s tough to guard.”

It was only the second time Timpe had played in his home-town tournament.

“It’s definitely a fun thing.” he said. “It’s good that they have this. It makes the Fourth a lot more enjoyable.

And it obviously gives you bragging rights over all the other kids at the other schools.”

Dakota’s Aleesha Cleaver, Jaycee Cleaver and Jen Lane and Forreston’s Ketarah DeVries combined to win the top women’s division with a perfect 4-0 record. They beat a team from Stockton 15-9 in the finals.

“Jen, Jaycee and I are good 3-point shooters and Ketarah can post up, so we could do pretty much everything,” Aleesha Cleaver said.

Their toughest game was a 6-4 defensive struggle over Stockton in the second round, when they made two two-point baskets and a pair of one-pointers, while Stockton scored only on two shots beyond the two-point line.

“That was crazy, but it was against all Stockton grads, and Stockton has always been a great defensive team,” Aleesha Cleaver said.